The Aztec women won the 2024 Mountain West Conference championship, defeating UNLV 4-2, in the final round in Las Vegas.
The victory came eight days after the Aztecs lost to the Rebels in the final match of the regular season. It restored the trophy to San Diego State after just one year away.
“The team did an absolutely wonderful job of being very resilient this Spring, dealing with a lot of challenges and injuries,” said Aztec Head Coach Peter Mattera.
Aztec Yasmine Kabbaj was named Mountain West Player of the Year and ranked 97th in the nation as the team entered the NCAA playoffs.
“They played very inspired tennis and stayed together, which all championship teams must,” Mattera said.
“All credit to them, at the end of the day they were tough as nails and never ever gave up on the cause, which was to win the Conference tournament.”
Mountain West Player of the Year honors were awarded Aztec Kabbaj of Morocco, a junior year transfer from Florida International University.
Another FIU transfer, Andjela Skrobonja of Serbia, helped keep the lineup strong for a second year. In 2023, she won Player of the Week honors twice and joined the all-conference singles team.
That year, according to goaztecs.com, she and Aztec Dariya Detkovskaya, another transfer, “were the only Aztec combo to reach double digit doubles wins and were ranked as high” as 59th in the nation.
This year, she qualified for the 2024 NCAA Singles Championships after winning 21 singles matches.
When Kabbaj skipped two matches in mid season to compete for a place on her home country’s Olympic team, Skrobonja filled in for her in the number one singles slot and won victories at both Utah State and Boise State.
Skrobonja stood as high as 71st in the nation in singles and she and Andreea Velcea won 13 of 17 doubles matches and All Mountain West doubles honors.
In the NCAA first round, they led a 42nd ranked Bruin doubles team 5-4 when UCLA clinched the doubles point. The Aztecs fell, 4-0, at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.